21 years ago today: it was the second day after martial law was declared. The troops were blocked from entering the city. Up to a million people gathered at the Square. 57 members of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, including Li Yining, Jiang Ping, Liu Yandong, Hu Jiwei and others requested an urgent meeting. Seven generals from the People’s Liberation Army, including Ye Fei, Zhang Aiping, Xiao Ke, Yang Dezhi, Chen Zaidao and Li Jukui, made an appeal to Deng Xiaoping in a letter, urging the troop “to refrain from opening fire at the people”. Millions of Hong Kong people took to the street.